H&M Joins List Of Stores Closed On Thanksgiving

H&M Joins List Of Stores Closed On Thanksgiving

H&M announced on Monday that all of its U.S. retail locations will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. "H&M would like to show our appreciation to our employees for their hard work year round," Daniel Kulle, president of H&M North America, said in a statement to Pix 11 News.

The Stockholm-based retailer joins a host of other companies that have promised to give employees the day off with their families. REI made headlines last month when it announced it would be closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, news that seems almost unprecedented in this day and age. It's not unusual to hear horror stories of shoppers gone wild trying to get consumer goods at low, low prices at the annual mega-sales on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

This may come as a surprise, but retailers being open on Thanksgiving day is a relatively recent development. In 2011, Walmart first announced it would open at 10:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to start Black Friday sales early. Target, Best Buy, and K-Mart followed suit. The public hasn't exactly embraced this trend; there's been much outrage about retailers requiring employees to work the holiday instead of spending it with family and friends. There was even a petition circulating on Change.org last year that urged retailers to close for Thanksgiving.

Perhaps even more of a motivator for business leaders: Turkey Day weekend sales have slowed, dropping 11% in 2014. This seems to suggest that potential shoppers would rather spend their Thursday evening in a food coma while watching the Cowboys than out at the mall. Of course, there are still a number of stores that will open on Thanksgiving regardless, including Target, Best Buy, and Toys 'R' Us. Hopefully, these retailers' employees will at least be bringing home time-and-a-half.